Quiet Weekend

We did our last two Christmas touristy things this week. The one on Thursday was the first one that didn’t go so well. The weather was perfect for being outside with temperatures well above normal for this time of year. And that was the problem because it was one of the last nights and, coupled with the nice weather, the place was wall to wall people.

I don’t do well when people are packed together. I like space to move if I need to. The other problem is the large groups of people who are together and just decide to stop in the middle of a high traffic area so everyone has to bend around them. We ended up not staying as long as we might have liked but had some good things to eat so it was OK.

The other one was better. It isn’t anything big or spectacular but, sometimes, that’s what you need. We stopped by our favorite bakery on the way home to buy some of their Christmas themed cookies. There is grocery shopping to be done tomorrow but then we have nothing on the agenda (a perfect introvert weekend).

And, I’ve already wrapped the stuff I’m giving my wife so I’ve got nothing on the to do list except prepping breakfast for Christmas morning. 

In past years, I used to venture out one day close to Christmas (sometimes Christmas Eve itself) to see the malls all decorated. I would do this early in the morning when they first opened so the crowds were mostly last minute shoppers but the places weren’t packed. I know it is all commercial but I do have a thing for decorations – they just make everything look festive. Except that it does go far too long given that you start seeing Christmas stuff just after Halloween.

With Christmas falling on a Monday, that isn’t going to happen this year. Not venturing anywhere near a mall on the weekend before Christmas. And I had something to do every day this week so there wasn’t time to get out and explore. 

I did hit one big box type store that sells everything because I needed some small stuff. They already had the Christmas stuff on sale which is kind of sad. Got to move it out and get ready for the stuff that people buy after the New Year. (Cleaning things, diet stuff and exercise things) I know the stores are just trying to get you to buy as much as possible so they care less about Christmas and more about how much they can sell. So Christmas ends before because we have too much stuff that didn’t sell and we need to move it out.

Have not yet put all the presents from the siblings under the tree. That is because of the cat who loves sitting under the tree. Caught him this morning sitting on one of the presents that we did put out while trying to play with his catnip mouse. Don’t think there was anything breakable in there. The good news is he doesn’t play with the ornaments although he does knock a few of the lower hanging one around because he’s a big boy. So we’re letting him have the space under the tree for a little longer and will likely put the presents out sometime on Sunday.

And that’s our plan for the weekend.